General Motors to hire 1,500 in Warren at new IT center

General Motors announced Monday that it will create up to 1,500 jobs for a new information technology center the company will open at the GM Technical Center in Warren.

The Warren Information Technology Innovation Center will be housed at the former Cadillac Building, near 13 Mile and Chicago roads. It is the second of four such facilities planned in the United States, as the automaker plans to return thousands of outsourced information technology jobs back in house.

Last month, the first of GM’s new IT facilities opened in Austin, Texas where 500 new jobs will be created. GM officials have not revealed when the locations of the other two IT centers will be announced.

“We’re currently seeking the next generation of game-changers to help us usher in a new age of automotive innovation at GM,” said Randy Mott, GM vice president of information technology and chief information officer.

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Positions are available in Warren for software development, database management, project management and business analysis. The company is recruiting recent college graduates and experienced professionals.

“Obviously it’s a shot in the arm. It’s a boost for our economy,” Warren Mayor James Fouts said. “It bodes well for the future of Warren.

“What’s important about that is these are high-tech, high-paying jobs,” he said.

Officials at the automaker did not attach financial estimates to the Warren IT center. The new project becomes part of the company’s plan, announced in 2011, to renovate and expand that building by 130,000 square feet for a $123 million data center with up to 25 jobs and the potential for an additional $40 million in new personal property. GM said at the time that its goal was to consolidate information technology operations at 16 major data centers and 25 smaller ones into two centers and to improve security of company information.

Gov. Rick Snyder on Monday praised GM’s decision to locate the project in Warren and described it as proof that Michigan is the home of automotive leadership.

“GM’s impressive recent growth can only be enhanced by the new Innovation Center going into the Warren Tech Center campus and we applaud this world-class auto company for tapping the technology talents of the world’s premier manufacturing work force,” Snyder said.

The innovation center is the first of three new projects expected to creation 2,000 jobs in Michigan, resulting from approximately $300 million in combined new investment by GM. The other two projects have not been announced.

GM said its recruiters are visiting colleges in the U.S. this fall and will seek out IT professionals at local job fairs.

“The next generation of IT workers, the talented visionaries we want contributing at the Michigan Innovation Center, are being trained at top computer science schools in Michigan and surrounding states,” Mott said. “The Michigan Innovation Center and its employees are critical to our overall IT business strategy and transformation.”

GM spokeswoman Juli Huston-Rough said recruiting started intensely in recent days and that hiring will continue over the next three to five years.

“It’s going to depend on how quickly we can find the right talent and ramp up,” said Huston-Rough, GM director of news relations and operations.

That’s good news for many upcoming college graduates specializing in high-tech fields, Snyder said.

“Our strength in engineering, research and development is a core Michigan asset that will mean good jobs in an innovative and exciting industry for all who pursue careers in scientific and technology fields,” the governor said.

Fouts hopes that at least some of the new hires coming to the Technical Center will reside in the city, too. The influx of workers at the sprawling campus — located between Van Dyke and Mound Road, from 12 Mile to 13 Mile — will spark spin-off economic benefits and be a boost to shops, stores and restaurants in the area, he said.

At Buddy’s Pizza on 13 Mile Road at Van Dyke, manager Bill Kubit expects the larger workforce across the street will benefit the popular restaurant.

“I’m sure that it will be a benefit. The degree, I don’t know,” Kubit said.

Fouts is confident GM’s hiring announcement and other recent economic development news in the Van Dyke corridor will lead to more commercial construction in the heart of the city. Last month, Walmart announced that it has purchased the Tech Plaza at 12 Mile and Van Dyke, where the retail giant had vacated one end of the shopping center in 2003 after opening a store two miles to the north in Sterling Heights. Meantime, home improvement chain Menards purchased the Van Dyke Sport Center, which it plans to demolish to make room for its second store in Macomb County.

Michael Finney, president and chief executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., said GM’s expansion in Michigan demonstrates the state is a great place to do business.

“GM’s commitment to further expand here means the company has invested nearly $3 billion in our state since 2009, and today’s announcement sends a strong message around the world that Michigan’s highly competitive business climate and tremendous work force capabilities mean real opportunities for world-class businesses,” Finney said.